Cleopatra's skin colour didn't matter in ancient Egypt – her strategic role in world history did
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Tuesday, May 9, 2023
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Cleopatra, queen of Egypt in the years 51-30 BC, is back in the news thanks to a controversial docudrama series on Netflix called Queen Cleopatra.
Key Points:
- Cleopatra, queen of Egypt in the years 51-30 BC, is back in the news thanks to a controversial docudrama series on Netflix called Queen Cleopatra.
- The fuss has provided an opportunity to look at her role in history and how she has been portrayed over time.
Who was Cleopatra and why is she so important?
- In a very real sense, the reign of Cleopatra marks the final flourishing of ancient Egyptian culture.
- When Cleopatra died, so did ancient Egyptian civilisation as a vibrant, living culture.
What do you make of the controversy over her ethnicity?
- It tells us more about the preoccupations of our own time than about what was considered important in Cleopatra’s age.
- There is no evidence that Cleopatra’s ethnicity was a matter of debate or interest during her own lifetime.
- She came from a long line of Greek-speaking kings, but her family had lived in Egypt for 300 years.
Why do you think her looks have been foregrounded?
- For example, she is often depicted with a long, aquiline nose and a pointed chin.
- However, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and history teaches us that power is a strong aphrodisiac.
What about her brain? What did she achieve in her time?
- She forcefully asserted her right to rule, dispensing with her two brothers when they undermined or tried to thwart her objectives.
- Her strategic liaisons with Caesar and then Antony were carefully calculated to secure her own position and her country’s autonomy.
- Her leadership skills also enabled her to avert famine in Egypt when other lands in the eastern Mediterranean suffered from starvation.
Why do you think she still fascinates people?
- Even in her own time, Cleopatra was a source of fascination – as a woman ruler in a man’s world.
- The Romans found her exotic, intriguing and controversial; and the writings of Roman historians and commentators ensured Cleopatra’s posthumous reputation.
- Her entanglement with Rome, especially her infamous love affairs with Caesar and Antony, scandalised contemporary Roman society and have fascinated subsequent generations.